Zaccaria Pinball - update v3.0

[Zevious Zoquis]

First impressions: STRIKE is way cooler than I thought it would be, fun game. New glass "shine" setting is superb. Ball rolling sounds good but volume needs to be turned down a little.

Really? The tables I tried the ball hardly sounds any different? If anything I'd want it turned up a lot...

Check this video of Clown for what I'm looking for in terms of the sound the ball makes as it rolls. Try and listen when there are no other noises ...just the ball rolling.

http://youtu.be/0ERfsvt2NZ8

 

[Kolchak357]

Sounds pretty much the same to me. Loud drop target sounds and quiet ball sounds.

 

[night]

Strange, it does sound different on my iPad2, much better than the old ball sound.

 

[74-89]

Strange, it does sound different on my iPad2, much better than the old ball sound.

same here - ball sounds and even "feels" heavier, a definite improvement.

 

[Zevious Zoquis]

As much as I love this collection of tables, I am left with the same feeling every time I play a few rounds...the physics are just fundamentally flawed. The ball doesn't come off the flippers in a predictable, realistic way. If it comes off the last half inch or so it always shoots off directly to the side and usually bounces off something else and then right down the drain. Also the plunger is completely useless. There's just no such thing as a skill shot. I just played a round on Stars Pheonix and had 4 balls in a row come off the plunger, shoot directly across the table to bounce off the end of the ramp (I think) and then drop back down between the flippers. Didn't matter how much I pulled the plunger. Same thing on Blackbelt. It's my favorite table but I can't enjoy it because every single initial shot just rolls around, hits the one way gate and drops down through the first chute. No dynamics at all. It destroys the feeling that you are actually controlling anything. Everything seems to follow an odd script. The fact that you can't really aim for a target with any sort of accuracy is just a huge issue with a pinball sim. It ends up feeling like there's very little skill involved ...just randomly slapping the ball around hoping to hit something.

 

[74-89]

Also the plunger is completely useless. There's just no such thing as a skill shot. I just played a round on Stars Pheonix and had 4 balls in a row come off the plunger, shoot directly across the table to bounce off the end of the ramp (I think) and then drop back down between the flippers. Didn't matter how much I pulled the plunger. Same thing on Blackbelt. It's my favorite table but I can't enjoy it because every single initial shot just rolls around, hits the one way gate and drops down through the first chute. No dynamics at all.

This is what I was talking about. STAR'S PHOENIX is one of the tables where you have to plunge and then quickly nudge and then hit or capture the ball immediately in order to just start a game. It's been good for developing fast reflexes, but it doesn't make for very relaxing pinball.

Can you imagine playing a real table that was like this? You'd have to literally be wrestling with it the entire time. Bear hugs for nudging, be super careful with the flippers when handling the ball, micro-managing aimed shots that may or may not hit the mark, while carefully attempting to avoid large danger areas. You would develop an extraordinary playing technique if nothing else.

 

[Zorgwon]

... ball doesn't come off the flippers in a predictable, realistic way. If it comes off the last half inch or so it always shoots off directly to the side and usually bounces off something else and then right down the drain. Also the plunger is completely useless. There's just no such thing as a skill shot. I just played a round on Stars Pheonix and had 4 balls in a row come off the plunger, shoot directly across the table to bounce off the end of the ramp (I think) and then drop back down between the flippers. Didn't matter how much I pulled the plunger. Same thing on Blackbelt. It's my favorite table but I can't enjoy it because every single initial shot just rolls around, hits the one way gate and drops down through the first chute. No dynamics at all. It destroys the feeling that you are actually controlling anything. Everything seems to follow an odd script.

Can confirm that. What has changed?

Lots of stuck balls on Strike in the upper left corner. Drop target accuracy is Ok but could be more precise.

Noise without change.

 

[Garycope]

Thanks for all the great old tables zaccaria! And the fast updates! Happy thanksgiving

 

[The loafer]

Really? The tables I tried the ball hardly sounds any different? If anything I'd want it turned up a lot...

Check this video of Clown for what I'm looking for in terms of the sound the ball makes as it rolls. Try and listen when there are no other noises ...just the ball rolling.

http://youtu.be/0ERfsvt2NZ8

You realize though that the video shows a table without a playfield glass on it, which means every mechanical or ball rolling sounds are louder than they would be if you are playing the table in your basement. For most pinball videos, people remove the glass as reflections on the glass from surrounding environments prevent us from seeing everything as clear as possible in the video, especially when taken from a viewpoint from the sides.

In saying that, I'd recommend a separate volume setting for the flipper and balls sounds so people can put it to whatever volume they prefer.

Loaf

 

[DA5ID]

Really digging the clear glass option in the 3.0 update - turned glass back on for all my tables - favorite view - portrait with camera 3 - camera moving with the reflection is an awesome effect and does not distract from gameplay - well done!

 

[Zorgwon]

Mystic Star Special is fixed and Champ's tunnel seems improved.

 

[haj]

Thanks for the update! Glass looks very nice with clear type, ball sounds got much nicer now! New table is awesome, too.
Folks, give a chance to dark room now!

 

[night]

Camera number/position is not remembered after restart of the Zaccaria app.

 

[IGoFirstIndy]

Zsolt, Thanks for the new update. As always, all the hard work is apparent and appreciated.

Not sure if it's a placebo effect from the new ball sound or if you tweaked the physics a little bit, but i felt like i noticed an improvement.

i don't play with glass on, but the clean option with the back box reflection is a really nice touch.

My top request right now would be fine tuning the plunger physics. several of the tables have skill shots which are not attainable with the current plunger. it would be nice if it had the precision to make exact shots ala TPA and Zen.

I like Strike. couple of possible issues with the table. The strikes don't carry over to the next ball. The left pop bumper is blurry compared to the other two. the words "double bonus" between the flipper gap are blurry.

Several issues i noticed on specific tables. A lot of the early tables still have elements that are blurry. This started being an issue off the previous update. The most notable example is the 2 on the dan wheel and the plastics on the sling shots at the bottom of the playfield on Black Belt. I'm on an iPad Air with all the latest updates.

Earth Wind Fire - the 3 and 4 button lights at the bottom center of the playfield are misshaped. the 3 is scrunched and the 4 is missing the hole in the number.

Star God - the design on the pop bumper cap looks hand drawn. this is especially apparent when you take the camera sweep tour of the table before starting a game. going on the ipdb it looks like the table shares the same pop bumper as Fire Mountain. in the app, the Fire Mountain pop bumper caps are much more photo realistic. would it be possible to replace the Star God pop bumper cap with one from Fire Mountain?

Star's Phoenix - The playfield color tone is noticeably darker, which makes the left and right outlanes way too dark. the skin color on the couple looks off and the skin color on the woman on the left side of the table above the special is grey, rather than flesh color.

Clown - the drop target obscured by the bar across the playfield doesn't stay down. you can repeatedly hit it even when the others remain down.

Hot Wheels - Has art issues which i believe are new to this update. there are now two 3X lights by the drop targets on the left side. i believe one of them should be 5X. The yellow numbered stationary targets in the winners circle are all blurry.

As always, thanks for all the hard work. Each update brings marked improvement. can't wait to see what's next!

 

[SonicBrain]

great update ! .... the ball sound sounds better but still room for improvement... the clear glass it's turned on on my playtime ... Zacc's roll !

 

[night]

I always play in cam mode1, but now with these great reflections it does not do justice to this effect to stay in cam1 mode.
I hate all these motion camera movements over a table, so I am finally getting my hands dirty to check-out that camera editor we have in the menu and create a somewhat subtile camera movement.
Since the camera editor does only have sliders and no numbers to share I just post a screen shot, in case you guys might want to give it a shot. (Btw, I can't figure out what the 'camera slide' option does).

 

[haj]

It may be interesting to have a camera which moves according to device tilt - I mean accelerometer - to enhance the depth of 3D field.. It should never be overdone, tho.. just a touch of tilting to left/right and forward/back.

 

[night]

It may be interesting to have a camera which moves according to device tilt - I mean accelerometer - to enhance the depth of 3D field.. It should never be overdone, tho.. just a touch of tilting to left/right and forward/back.

+1 Good idea!

 

[Reagan Dow]

Bug: strike pinball. Second rollover from the left on top of table does not score when rolled over. Thanks.

 

[IGoFirstIndy]

It may be interesting to have a camera which moves according to device tilt - I mean accelerometer - to enhance the depth of 3D field.. It should never be overdone, tho.. just a touch of tilting to left/right and forward/back.

+2 if possible. Great idea haj!